‘Idea of Bharatvarsh Cannot Be Destroyed’: Pranab Mukherjee

Pranab Mukherjee said despite having different languages & religions, India still functions under one constitution.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee. 

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday, 18 December, said that the idea of India that is ‘Bharatvarsh’ “can never be allowed to be destroyed.”

Speaking at the Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture in Delhi’s India Islamic Centre, the former Union minister and Congress leader said that despite having different languages and dialects and seven major practicing religions, India still functions under one Constitution.

“When I shut my eyes and think of India, a land mass of 3.3 million square kms, population of 1.3 billion comes to my mind. In our everyday life, there are seven practicing major religions. In our daily life, we use 122 languages, 1,600 dialects, yet all this comes under one constitution, one system and one identity. That is India, that is Bharatvarsh. That identity can never be lost, it can never be allowed to be destroyed.”

Pranab Mukherjee, Former President

He added that if we “destroy the idea of India, there will be nothing left known as India.”

‘Lack of Majority Forbids You to Form a Majoritarian Govt’

Earlier on 16 December, Mukherjee “advised” the government that “lack of popular majority forbids one to form a majoritarian government.”

"As a former parliamentarian with 48 years of experience, I have a piece of advice — numerical majority gives you the right to give a stable government, but please carry on with others. Lack of popular majority forbids you from a majoritarian government, that is the message and essence of our parliamentary democracy," stated Mukherjee.

Mukherjee also voiced his misgivings over the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, something Prime Minister Narendra Modi has strongly pushed for, as he said it may be done one time through constitutional amendments but there is no guarantee that elected members will not express their lack of confidence in a government in the future.